The Energy Industry In Canada

In the article it is spoken about The Energy Industry In Canada. Canada is one of the few exporters of energy among the developed nations of the world. The country has vast resources of oil and gas and is also one of the leading producers of nuclear and wind energy in the world. With over $53 billion contribution to the GDP, the energy sector is one of the most important contributors to the Canadian economy. Let us take an in depth look at the main energy resources (and their locations) and the energy industry of Canada.

Oil and Gas sources in Canada

Canada has great oil and natural gas reserves in the Alberta region and Northern territories as well as the British Columbia and the Saskatchewan region. All these oil reserves put together, Canada has the second largest reserves of oil in the world next to Saudi Arabia.

According to a recent report by the Energy Information Wing, U.S Department of Energy, Canada has an annual production of over 112.5 billion barrels. Earlier the large oil sands of the Alberta region were considered too expensive to be developed. However, with the recent technological developments, the oil production from this area has become more affordable and economical.

The country also has vast reserves of natural gas. According to Oil and Gas Journal, there is more than 57.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves as discovered till January, 2009. This makes Canada the second largest producer of natural gas in the Western Hemisphere after USA. These reserves are spread over the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Scotian basin (offshore of Nova Scotia), and Mackenzie Delta (northwestern territories).

The Energy Sector of Canada

The energy sector of Canada has 6 sub categories, namely Oil and Gas, Electric Power, Coal mining, Natural Gas distribution, Manufacture – petroleum and coal products, and Pipeline Transportation. Among all 6 sectors, those of the Oil and Gas and Electric Power are the largest contributors. This affects the overall provincial profits for corporate world in Canada.

The regions with the oil and natural gas reserves like Alberta, northwestern regions, and Saskatchewan obviously have higher corporate profits. Apart from these regions, the Labrador and the Newfoundland areas have also shown more profit than the national average of Canada.

Apart from these conventional energy sectors, Canada is also concentrating on production of renewable energy like wind energy, which obviously has a lot of advantages. This is in fact the fastest growing energy source in Canada and has witnessed a growth rate of 60% since 1998. According to the estimates, the wind energy production will reach 10,000 MW by 2012.

However, currently the wind energy sector is largely dependent on US and Europe for provision of turbines, towers, and other main components. There are many efforts being carried out the by state and corporate sectors to boost the production of the wind energy manufacturing components domestically.